1. Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate generally to video systems and more particularly to video systems that record or play back digitally encoded video sequences.
2. Description of Related Art
Digital televisions (DTV) and high-definition televisions (HDTV) are gaining popularity in today's consumer electronics marketplace. Many purchasers of these types of televisions also buy digital video recorders or players, such as a digital video disc (DVD) recorder or player, for purposes of viewing previously recorded programs or recording their favorite programs. Notably, the combination of a DTV (or an HDTV) and a digital video recorder or player can be an integral part of a home theater entertainment system.
A digital video recorder or player typically contains an MPEG decoder to decode the digitally encoded multimedia data that is stored on the discs that the recorder or player plays. If the digital video recorder or player is connected to a conventional (non-DTV or non-HDTV) television, the digitally encoded signal will be decoded by the digital video recorder's or player's MPEG decoder before being displayed on the conventional television. Significantly, however, many DTV's contain their own MPEG decoders, as the MPEG decoder in the majority of digital video recorders or players cannot handle the decoding of video signals for such televisions. As such, if a digital video recorder or player is connected to a DTV, the video signal read from the disc is remotely decoded by the DTV's decoder. This configuration can be referred to as a remote decoder arrangement.
There is, however, an important disadvantage to decoding digitally encoded signals with a remote DTV decoder. Namely, certain trick mode commands, such as a freeze or pause command, can be problematic. When a freeze trick mode is initiated, there is no way to determine exactly how long the trick mode will remain in effect. Consequently, it is impossible to calculate how many times a particular picture will be displayed during this type of trick mode. This uncertainty can interfere with the display order of the pictures being transferred to the decoder in the DTV, as the DTV decoder is not under the control of the digital video recorder and has no way of knowing that a freeze trick mode has been initiated. Thus, a need exists for a method and system for performing a trick mode without negatively affecting the display order of the pictures in the video signal and without increasing system costs or complexity.